06 October 2013

Some supporters groups are finally fed up with Bill Peterson and his leadership of the NASL. After a flash point Thursday with the Tampa Bay Rowdies supporters group, they put their frustrations into action.

Before I get to the events that led to the actions at Lockhart Stadium during the Florida Derby, let's look at the man who is the commissioner of the North American Soccer League. Bill Peterson is a man who is use to failed ventures. According to the league's bio on Peterson, he has served as COO of the United Football League (A league full of so many problems it actually folded in season), and lasted less than a year as President of the poorly thought out NFL Europe (Despite being long serving GM of the Amsterdam Admirals). Soccer wise, he spent six years as Senior Vice President of AEG Sports and Managing Director of the Home Depot Center. Looking at all the various roles he's had over his years, it reads like a 'I'm not good enough for this, so I'm going to go do that'. He seems a man who can create a vision, but the man who cannot see any vision out.

Upon his arrival to the NASL, he immediately cut critical members inside the NASL front office. While costs need to be curtailed, replacing known soccer guys with people who were with Peterson during the dying days of the UFL is shoddy business at best. The current PR Director was an abject failure in steering the UFL's narrative during the days prior to closing up shop. The current Director of Operations was a man so non existent he didn't register on anyone's radar as a man who could conduct serious business. It doesn't stop there:
* He did not reverse a poorly thought out decision that allowed the New York Cosmos to be Soccer Bowl eligible despite only playing the fall half of the 2013 season. If the season was to end today, they would play Atlanta in the Soccer Bowl.
* In July, he approved expansion into the Oklahoma City market. Rumors have circulated (though it must be stressed unconfirmed) that the group accepted from Oklahoma City was rejected by USL and their tougher admission standards. There has some minor speculation that Peterson receives a hefty bonus for every expansion team the NASL approves. Again that's also unconfirmed.
* After an incident on September 15th in Edmonton that saw the majority of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers' coaching staff ejected, it took three days for Peterson to say anything publicly on the situation. During that time, Peterson did not speak on the subject despite numerous media inquiries on the matter until issuing the suspension.
* On September 20th, it was reported on the Ultras Alive Podcast, following a Fort Lauderdale Strikers fan forum that Bill Peterson admitted to a journalist that he had never read the NASL Rules and Procedures. It's a pretty damning admission that the head of the league has never read up on the procedures of the league he runs.

While fans have felt they could at least engage Peterson, it could be said that all changed after Tampa Bay's trip to New York. The fixture had been rearranged, and some fans were unable to get in on Tampa Bay's group rate to make the trip north. While those who had committed early to the group rate were okay, many others had to pay the balance out of pocket.

During the game there was a fan incident that took place at the end of the game in New York between the Rowdies and Cosmos. Depending on who you ask will determine who and what started the incident. on Monday, Charlie Cole, the leader of Ralph's Mob (the Tampa Bay supporters group), attempted to reach out to Bill Peterson in order see if any actions would be forthcoming in wake of that incident. Those calls went unanswered, and on Thursday sent a tweet to Bill Peterson, who then not only sent the reply to the wrong account (the account in question should have been @speedcake), sent the following as his official league response. The first bit has been proven to be an outright lie, the second bit is simply inexcusable for any leadership of a flailing organization.

The tweet that has since been deleted caused an immediate uproar among the supporters groups in Tampa Bay and Fort Lauderdale. They all knew something had to be done, but what to do still remained in question. Some brought up the idea of a banner, which seemed to be immediately accepted as an idea. But others wanted to go one further and stage a mass walkout on the game. That brought about some mixed reactions among the three supporters groups.

Almost immediately after realizing how stupid the above mentioned tweet was, Peterson had already tried to go into damage control mode among the varying supporters groups. Those who were against the walkout did not believe what Cole was saying to be an accurate version of events that led to the above mentioned tweet. However, it didn't take long to convince them with actual visual evidence that Peterson's version of events were a lie. Once Cole was able to convince them Peterson was selling them a bill of goods, it didn't take long for all three supporter groups in attendance to agree to a mass walkout. The fact that all three groups agreed to do anything in unison is a feat in and of itself. While most of the banter between the Fort Lauderdale and Tampa Bay is generally in good fun, they have had plenty of heated moments in recent times.

Despite attempts from Andrew Nestor (CEO & GM of the Tampa Bay Rowdies) and Rishi Sehgal (Director of Business Development and Legal Affairs for the NASL) to stop the walkout from happening, 15 minutes into the Florida Derby, all three supporters groups emptied out. Once they got out of the field of play, some chanted expletives about Bill Peterson to let him know they were not happy with what he said. After 15 minutes, some returned to watch the remainder of the game while others simply left.

While I think a sustained chant of "Peterson Out" would have been a much better course of action than using expletives, I can empathize with those fans. With Jacksonville getting a team in 2015, I have to seriously question if Peterson is the right man running the NASL. If his reaction to very passionate fans that spend their hard earned money is to tell them not to watch, then he doesn't need to be the position of power he is. There needs to be a flat out apology written for the NASL website, he needs to go on every public forum and media that will still have him and offer a heartfelt regret. Anything that smells of bull will be quickly pounced on...just like his lies were Thursday night.

The issue with Peterson is his bombastic rhetoric and inability to control himself when MLS comes up. It is well known in preseason he told players at various teams they couldn't tweet publicly or make comments saying they want to go to MLS. They were told Europe is different but NASL is equal with MLS. Nice fluffy feel good stuff until they got their paychecks and saw they all make below the MLS minimum.

Heck, MLS teams all have more sales staff than NASL teams have any staff.

Your take on the OKC expansion doesn't even approach the level of pure incompetence.

The NASL group wasn't rejected by USL for lack of funding or meeting of standards: it broke an agreement in bad faith and approved a rival group with the hopes of locking out any attempt to expand into Oklahoma City.

What's more, the group that USL did approve didn't meet some standards themselves, such as a ready home stadium.

Badger, I hear the OKC thing a little different. USLPRO has already rejected the PDL group do to the financial vetting and then NASL took them. As a fan I was concerned about the OKC team based on what I heard.

I think the Edmonton issue is vastly exaggerated, fed by some bloggers and tweeters. The coaches were sent off and it is standard they serve a one-game suspension. Peterson not returning the calls of wind-up want to be journalists is no big deal on that honestly.

What is an issue is what happened this past week. First off the Cosmos are allegedly this superb club that does everything first class yet they cannot pay for adequate security? Then the Commissioner says nothing for days? They do not respond to Charlie Cole? Do they not realize he is a guy that has put so much into the league as have most supporters. If you are the boss as Peterson is you do not berate a guy like that. When Peterson says watch another league it undermines his case that NASL is different, closer to its fans. Has Don Garber EVER EVER EVER said something like that?

You mention the staff changes above. As someone who is in a supporters group and have spoken to people around the league I know the former PR director and former Ops director were regularly in contact with supporters groups. Darren McCartney in particular understood stadium security, proper stadium procedures and making sure traveling supporters have a safe way in and out of a stadium.

Traveling fans are the essence of lower division soccer. If the Cosmos cannot pay for adequate security even though they act like they are the biggest club in the world and the league cannot be bothered to do something about it because they do not want to offend the Cosmos and because the Commissioner berated a fan unprofessionally and then dug in with the league trying to stop an organic fan protest the way they did this is a scandal that really undermines the league that has done really good work to this point.

Just to make sure i'm crystal clear on this: both the home and away supporters groups protested something said to one person on twitter. Yep. Seems like a legit reason to hijack the core support of two teams. Good LORD, will you guys grow up already...

Just to make sure i'm crystal clear on this: both the home and away supporters groups protested something said to one person on twitter. Yep. Seems like a legit reason to hijack the core support of two teams. Good LORD, will you guys grow up already...

Xander we and the Fort Lauderdale supporters walked out because this is a culmination of a long process where the league ignores our complaints and brushes over security concerns. As the writer points out this changed after the staff changes. Previously anytime our leadership reached out they got quick replies and answers. The Media Relations guy, Kartik Krishnayer in particular worked with our group and was in constant communication before and after games where we traveled to Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta. The same can be said for the fired ops guy whose name I forget but I know was all over security at stadiums and preventing incidents.

Since the staff changes and also importantly since the Cosmos started playing the attitude has changed. We hope the Commissioner's supporters summit is the start of a positive dialogue but we are not sure.

We want to thank the Fort Lauderdale supporters for what they did Saturday. We have had issues in the group before with some of our people (guys and gals) creating problems with the FTL guys. But supporter solidarity and a higher purpose is what mattered. Those dumb idiots who created problems with the Strikers fans before now know they were wrong and we are supporters who love teams in Florida and all have the same interest.

A word about Kartik also. I mentioned him above. When the problems started this week I know Charlie reached out to him as they are still friends and talk regularly. I think he was not wanting to get involved but eventually advised Charlie and helped put Charlie and our group together with the Fort Lauderdale group, playing peacemaker just as he had done between the two groups when he worked for the league. Of course now he doesn't work for the league and the thing he stressed was if we really felt we needed to make a statement it had to be made together. He from what I am told was responsible for opening the dialogue between the two sets of supporters this week and then we took it from there. So imagine how he could have helped this situation if he worked for the league? Maybe the new media guy does a better job of some stuff but certainly not anywhere near as good with fan relations and that is a big part of the problems. His release was not well received among supporters, I will tell you that much. That and Cosmos mania have made this league unpalatable.

Xander please understand when the Commissioner insults a supporter publicly he insults all supporters. We stick together always. Thank you again to the Fort Lauderdale fans. I will never see them as an enemy again.

I have been gone from the league since May but continue to follow it closely and support NASL. However, I do think the Commissioner had better days then Thursday for sure. It was an unfortunate tweet something I am sure he regrets. The people left at the league are capable but often are spread way too thin. The league does not have enough staff and security at stadiums is a problem, a big big problem. As some of the comments above state I was always concerned about this, perhaps too concerned but kept a good rapport with supporters groups because of it.

In particular, I became close with Ralph's Mob because a) I am in Florida and b) They traveled more than any other group in our league.

In the process I can tell you what a quality person and friend Charlie Cole is. He didn't deserve this and never wanted to be the center of attention. I am sure the Commissioner regretted this action and unlike some my anger in this wasn't directed at Mr. Peterson. For me the issue is teams not taking security seriously and understanding how to handle traveling fans. This has happened time and again in the league in all honesty. I am sure the Commissioner agrees with me even though he probably won't admit it.

As for my advising of Charlie and the Mob, again I felt a statement needed to be made about stadium security and the unwillingness of some NASL clubs (and USLPRO clubs) to invest properly in this. I am a supporter first and foremost and am a member of then local Fort Lauderdale supporters groups (yes we have two) and consider many of the most active members of Ralph's Mob my personal friends.

So I reluctantly got involved. I didn't want to do anything anti-Peterson but I felt this was the moment supporters HAD TO make a statement about the shoddy security around the NASL. It's not just New York, it's multiple facilities. Things like this have happened before, we just dealt with it quicker than it was dealt with this time, but it's a recurring problem.

Charlie reached out to me Thursday night and after sleeping on it (and initially brushing it off because I love NASL and will always feel pride in ownership of the league) I got back to him Friday morning and said I would help the Mob and try and bring the Fort Lauderdale supporters to the table which was done.

Again, this is not about Bill Peterson. This problem existed before Bill Peterson. It will continue to exist even if Bill Peterson doesn't want it to until the teams step up. It is about NASL clubs not understanding the needs of traveling fans, not accommodating them appropriately, not ensuring adequate security and then trying to sweep problems under the rug. In all honesty it should never get to Peterson's level. He should not have to deal with this. Team should deal with this, but since they can't, Peterson and his staff have to. I had to deal with this at the NASL though it was NOT my responsibility. Now that I am on the other side of fence so to speak I see it the same way. Teams not taking this seriously and relying on the league to cover for them or bail them out. That is simply not acceptable.

I hope this is a wake up call not for Peterson but for the clubs specifically. That's why I did it. The point needed to be made to the people running gameday at the various venues (that's not Bill Peterson but team staff) that this situation MUST change and MUST change now.

I am scared something really unfortunate will happen soon at an NASL game if action is not taken.

So Kartik, given your concerns do you think hooliganism is coming to the NASL?

What should teams do about it? How would you solve the problem other than talking to supporter's groups? Honestly both you and Peterson are full of it. This is totally on the league. Totally a league problem. The direction comes from the league. I respect your concerned but why were you involved to begin with at NASL if it is a team matter as you claim? It was on you and Commissioner Downs. Now it is on your successor and Commissioner Peterson. That is the bottom line truth here.

How is this on the league if a team in this case the NY Cosmos do not train security to a) bring the opposing supporters in through a separate entrance or at a time before the masses enter the ground b) provide security around both supporters sections preventing opposing supporters from entering and c) escorting the opposing supporters out of the stadium.

Our operations director Darren McCartney went over this time and again with our teams. In fairness the Cosmos are new and I was gone by the time they started gamedays so maybe the procedures have never been discussed with them. But my guess is that it has and they simply ignored it.

I am sad to see what has transpired here and with what has been happening with the NASL.

A little background. I use to work for the NASL and was let go earlier in the year. Call me a disgruntled ex-employee, but my current job pays much better and I am quite happy. I can tell you the NASL is a jumbled mess. They only care about the Cosmos, reliving the the 1970s, and expanding as quickly as possible. Because emulating a league that failed 35 years ago, is always a recipe for success.

You must understand that Aaron Davidson from Traffic USA is really running the league. Peterson is just a parrot. He was brought in to repeat what Traffic wants him to. Which is ironic since he has been a disaster in conveying any message and comes off as less than serious in interviews. He really is a clueless buffoon. The NASL use to have a legit commissioner in David Downs. But Downs didn't believe in Traffic's nonsense. He told them competing with MLS was suicide and pure fantasy. He tried hard to make a deal with MLS for the benefit of lower division soccer. One of the things he tried to do was work out something so MLS wouldn't expand into D2 NASL markets. But Traffic kept turning down everything he talked about with Garber and his people. He saw the iceberg coming and wisely got off. Now MLS regards the NASL as something to crush and will expand to Atlanta, South Florida, and likely San Antonio.

The confused and childish NASL you see today is a direct result of Aaron Davidson and somewhat Peterson. The nonsense about competing with, and even passing MLS, comes from Brazillian Traffic and their crazy delusions. The NASL can barely pay its bills and their club owners have no money. Most players make 12k. It would be funny if it weren't so sad. Even McGuire up in Minny has quickly soured on owning a minor league soccer club. Don't expect him to hang around. Bill Clinton has a much better chance of being elected Pope than the NASL has of competing with MLS. And believe me, the people who work for the NASL know it.

Dumping Peterson isn't going to change a thing. They'll just bring in some other clown. The NASL is hellbent on its destruction, so it is best just to get out of the way and let the egg hit the wall. I feel bad for the Peter Wilts and serious team owners who signed up for this mess. But thems the breaks.

Peterson has now gone on record saying NASL can surpass MLS in a BBC interview.

I am sorry but he IS THE ISSUE. As a Ralph's Mob member I will not support NASL beyond the Rowdies until he is gone for good.

I respect what Kartik says about the teams and Oldie says above about Traffic and Traffic has always been a concern.

But this stuff didn't happen when David Downs was the Commissioner. He was a man we all respected as supporters. Aaron Davidson did not so clearly manipulate the situation when Downs was the leader. It is Peterson allowing himself to be pushed around by the Brazilian mafia Davidson fronts for.

Also I would like to thank Kartik for his role Saturday. I know it wasn't easy for him. He kept saying he loves the league but this has to be done for the league to survive. He was the most critical piece in getting the Strikers supporters on board. I honestly do not think we would have the unity we had at Lockhart without him. He again demonstrated why he was such a good sounding board and unifier when he worked for NASL. We also miss Darren McCartney and David Downs. Soccer guys who got what supporters were about.

The only thing I can say is wow! I am a fan of the NASL & don't live in any of their markets. The commissioner is looking more unsuitable for the job over time. Also, just a thought - the COO of the Cosmos is Erik Stover (formerly of the Red Bulls) and I just don't know if I buy it that he doesn't know a thing or two about stadium security issues involving traveling fans. It may be a case of poor execution, but he should know better.

Also wanted to chime in regarding the USL/OKC thing. NASL has much higher standards, in part, due to the USSF sanctioning NASL as a second division league and the USL as a third division league. Any claim to the contrary is ridiculous.

Regarding the level of professionalism in the league offices, NASL may not be as professional as many would like, but there is no conceivable way they are worse than the USL. Equally bad might plausible, but would be horribly damning.

I'm actually fairly certain the Tim on this post is Tim Holt, for what it's worth.

Guys the cops at the stadium screwed up and weren't paying enough attention to protect the fans, the Cosmos fans that is.

With that said, Ralph's Mob has been lying through their teeth about actually what happened and playing themselves off as victims while everyone who is pissed about anything in the NASL complains and supports them. No one from the Cosmos supporters went to their section, they came into the Cosmos supporters section. Ask our friend Charlie if he can produce any videos or pictures of these phantom Cosmos fans in their section, he can't because he is a liar. His stupid drunk friends got what they deserved by going to the home teams supporters section. The security should have stopped them before they could have entered.

Btw, when he complains about how they were treated after the game, ask them why they called the local security every curse in the book including the n-word to one security guard. I'm sure that had a lot to do with the fact they were victims.

What kind of supporter leaves big game because someones feelings were hurt on twitter? What losers. Are you fans of your team, or fans of being fans? Real supporters are there for their squad, not having high school twitter drama.

I was not going to walk out of the section honestly until the sleazy NASL attorney dude showed up and tried to talk us all out of it.

Talk about sleaze!

Why would the league have its attorney try and intimidate fans that way?

To me that deserves a write up more than Peterson's largely harmless tweet.

Even though all these Tampa fans were saying they needed us to talk with them I said no way until that. Then I saw the point, the league is trying to stifle dissent and have only a one way dialogue with fans. That sucks and I walked out.

NASL has long been a joke. Simply a vanity/ego project of Brazlian operation Traffic Sports it is a shame so many supporters have fallen in love with teams in a league that is built around ego and one man's narcissism.

That man is not Bill Peterson but the President of Traffic Sports USA, Aaron Davidson.

Davidson wants to be bigger than MLS, a sports tycoon who sees his name in lights. In reality he is little more than scared little used car salesman. Someone who simply lies and lies and lies to sell franchises. He destroyed USL with his vanity, and the things he promised team owners if the broke away have failed to even begin to materialize.

MLS has lots of issues but it looks great in comparison. All NASL really has become is a place for all the anti-MLS malcontents to gravitate and whine about no promotion/relegation and how unfair the system is.

So much of it is based around people who cannot get jobs in MLS.

I feel bad for all the supporters who have bought in because local teams were in their areas. NASL is a sick joke that eventually will implode. USL was ruined by Davidson and Traffic and now we have this ridiculous feeder system with USL Reserve League thanks to Davidson's mad ego.

Indeed, I should have never been able to run into the Cosmos support section if there was proper security. Likewise the Cosmos fans shouldn't have been able to just casually come to the section we were placed in and remove our banner and walk off with it. The scuffle that resulted by the bathrooms was a direct result of attempting to retrieve the banner. The taunts continued with a scarf, and I wanted to retrieve that as will. I didn't go there to kick the beehive with no reason. I went in to retrieve our property. People have taken a liking to snatching our things and then are surprised when we don't tolerate it. Not everyone in Ralph's Mob is a retired pensioner...

This is what happens when you have a closed league and a USSF that institutes discrimination.

The Cosmos should and would be the biggest club in the country if the system was not rigged. The Rowdies would be a top club also.

I heard Kartik call into that radio program last night and conveniently shift the blame from Peterson AND Ralph's Mob to the Cosmos. It fits the narrative the pro-MLS, pro-discrimination, pro-closed league crowd is trying to create and successfully with some people including jealous supporters of lesser NASL teams.. Somehow everything in his mind is the fault of the Cosmos. Everything in NASL is the fault of the Cosmos. Everything in US Soccer is the fault of the Cosmos. Everything in world soccer is the fault of the Cosmos. NASL was perfect before the Cosmos. NASL now has problems because of the Cosmos.

That's the narrative and some are buying it. It is flat out wrong though.

The biggest problem is that there is a need for security. Going to games is fun. Yelling at the other team is fun. If you take it so seriously that you feel the need to take someone else's stuff, or prevent them from having fun because they support the other team, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM.

To the Anonymous people who question the integrity of Charlie Cole and Ralph's Mob, you belittle yourselves primarily with insistence on video evidence or nothing. As Mob member (and proud of if) the events described were true as I was among the 30 or so traveling fans to NY, but wait, my eyes don't have built in video so I guess I am just a liar too.I do not think the NASL wants fans hiring their own security groups, but that may be the solution as Mr Peterson dances his political jig around a problem. Also, running video cams on the banners and fans. We will support our teams, even if it requires a security detail. Picture that Bill? Your clubs do such a poor job under your leadership that mini-SWAT teams guard the away groups. Might not make a good pic on the front page of the Tampa Bay Times or Atlanta Journal/Constitution, but I will not be huddled en mass to keep ATLANTA or Cosmos Ulras from threatening me an my family. Joel Beatty MD